Power amplifiers are used in communication systems to increase the power of a signal for transmission across a desired communication medium. It is generally desirable to maintain the distortion associated with amplification relatively low, and a common cause of distortion is clipping. An output signal of the amplifier is clipped when peaks of an input signal exceed a threshold at which a corresponding output signal with a desired gain cannot be produced. Instead of the output signal faithfully tracking the input signal, the output signal is effectively suppressed, or clipped, to the level of the amplifier's maximum capabilities at points where clipping occurs. When clipping occurs, the output signal is distorted in an uncontrolled manner, which leads to a loss of information represented by the signal peaks and causes unwanted noise in the transmission spectrum.
Power amplifiers and surrounding circuitry are generally designed with clipping in mind. In particular, power amplifiers are designed to avoid clipping for most, if not all, possible signals. This often requires power amplifiers to be designed to handle the higher peaks of a given signal even when such peaks infrequently occur. The higher the signal peaks, the larger the amplifier must be. Increasing the size of an amplifier usually increases costs of the amplifier as well as reduces amplifier efficiency, which leads to greater power consumption and shorter battery lives for fixed and portable communication systems.
Peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) has an impact on amplifier efficiency, and in particular is a measure of the instantaneous peak power relative to the average power being supplied by a power amplifier when amplifying a given input signal to provide an amplified output signal. More efficient amplifiers require less energy to amplify a given signal to a certain level than less efficient amplifiers. As the efficiency of an amplifier increases, the amount of energy required to amply signals decreases, thus reducing the operational power required for the communication system which is advantageous in both base station and mobile applications. Generally, a lower PAPR enables higher amplifier efficiency, whereas a higher PAPR results in lower amplifier efficiency. Accordingly, designers are constantly trying to build more efficient communication systems that result in lower PAPRs.
The PAPR for communication systems is typically a function of the input signal being amplified by the amplifier. The peak and average amplitudes of the input signal correlate to the instantaneous peak and average powers provided by the power amplifier while amplifying the input signal. As such, an input signal that has relatively high instantaneous peaks in amplitude with respect to the overall average amplitude is considered a high PAPR signal, whereas an input signal that has relatively low instantaneous peaks in amplitude with respect to the overall average amplitude is considered a low PAPR signal. The peak and average amplitudes of the input signal are often a function of how the input signal is modulated.
Typical modulation schemes employed in modern communication systems include frequency division multiple access (FDMA), including orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA); code division multiple access (CDMA); and time division multiple access (TDMA) schemes. OFDMA systems, such as the Third Generation Partnership Project's (3GPP's) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard and the World Wide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) standard, employ a number of independently modulated sub-carriers, which can result in high PAPRs. CDMA systems, such as the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS), employ spread spectrum modulation and are also considered to have high PAPRs, similar to OFDMA systems. TDMA systems, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), employ a constant power envelope, and as such, have very low PAPRs. Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) is non-constant envelope and generally lies between GSM and CDMA or OFDMA systems with respect to PAPR. For systems that have relatively high PAPRs, techniques have been employed to reduce the peak amplitude of the modulated input signal prior to amplification in an effort to reduce the associated PAPR, and as a result, may increase the efficiency of the power amplifier.
An exemplary PAPR reduction technique involves intentionally distorting a given input signal, which is only modulated according to a single modulation scheme, to effectively reduce those peaks that exceed a given threshold. Prior to amplification, the peaks of the input signal that exceed the given threshold are removed, or clipped, to form a clipped signal. The clipped signal is subtracted from the input signal to form a distortion signal, which is subsequently processed and applied to the entirety of the input signal to result in peak reduction. Application of the attenuated distortion signal to the input signal effectively reduces those peaks that exceed the given threshold. This and other PAPR reduction techniques have proven relatively successful when applied to signals that are only modulated according to a single modulation scheme.
In modern communication systems, diversity techniques are employed to use transmission resources more efficiently and reduce transmit power levels. Diversity techniques generally employ multiple antennas through which the same or different data may be transmitted at the same time. When two or more signals are transmitted concurrently, the signals can effectively be combined. The PAPR associated with the combined signals can significantly increase, which leads to decreased amplifier efficiency. Interestingly, the combination of signals that have been individually subjected to peak power reduction is often associated with a PAPR that is dramatically higher than that which is associated with the either of the individually peak power reduced signals. As such, even if PAPR reduction techniques are individually applied to each of the signals before the respective signals are combined, the combined input signal will still have an undesirable PAPR.
Accordingly, there is a need for an effective and efficient technique to reduce the PAPR associated with a combined signal.